Do you think UH can win the AAC in football and basketball? — @Mohka72

Let's start with football: UH is currently in the driver's seat as the only unbeaten team in the West division. The picture should become clearer in the next few weeks, particularly after the Oct. 27 game against what should be a still ranked South Florida. It helps that two of the top preseason contenders, Memphis (1-3 in AAC) and Navy (1-2 in AAC) are struggling and all but out of the race.

As for men's basketball, the preseason poll came out this week and league coaches consider UH a legitimate contender for the AAC regular season title. The Cougars were picked third in the poll, behind Central Florida and defending champion Cincinnati. Possibly of more importance: most experts project the Cougars to return to the NCAA Tournament.

Can Ed Oliver improve on his tackles for loss stats against this Navy team? —@SpaceCoog

If there is a week that Oliver could have another stat explosion, it's this week. Navy runs the triple-option, which is tailored to Oliver's strength as a run stopper. And just look at his stats in the two previous meetings: 25 tackles, 2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. Even Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo acknowledges the difficulty the Midshipmen have had against Oliver. "He's always given us trouble."

Was Coach Major Applewhite behind the decision for the defense being more aggressive and applying more pressure in the last couple of games? — @Coogfan88

Applewhite is the type of coach to not take credit and instead heap praise (when warranted) on his assistants. I doubt if anybody will ever publicly say an edict was made that something needed to be done. Here's guessing that the decision was more a product of a team-wide evaluation during the open date in the schedule before the start of conference play. Whatever the case, the results are trending in the right direction. In Saturday's win at East Carolina, UH had 12 tackles for loss and 12 quarterback pressures, both season highs, and probably should have had more than two sacks.

If something were to happen to D'Eriq King, would Bryson Smith be the long-term guy? Or would it be Clayton Tune. – Jason M.

While there has been no official change in the depth chart, it's becoming clear that Tune, a true freshman, has moved ahead of graduate transfer Quinten Dormady into the No. 2 quarterback spot. There are many factors that could influence the decision. How many games left in season? Is Tune at the four-game threshold to preserve his redshirt? All UH fans will tell you, let's hope it does not come to this.

Saw recently that the school announced contract extensions for Leroy Burrell (track and field) and Kristin Vesely (softball). Any more in the works? — Robert M., Austin

Next up: Ron Hughey (women's basketball) and Todd Whitting (baseball). The school has also been in talks on an extension for men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson.

Joseph Duarte has been a sports reporter for the Houston Chronicle since August 1996. He currently covers college athletics, focusing on the University of Houston. Previously, he wrote about the Houston Astros from 1998-2002, Houston Texans from 2002-05 and the Texas Longhorns from 2005-09. He came to the Houston Chronicle as part of an internship through the Sports Journalism Institute in 1995.